Oil on postcard-sized gessobord
Less of a piglet, actually a wild boar, ‘the piglet’ is the nickname the locals have given to this bronze statue.
Situated in the market near to the Duomo in Florence, the fountain was originally commissioned around 1615 so that the merchants (who were selling their fine linens and fabrics nearby) had somewhere to drink and wash their hands.
Unfortunately the snout began to wear thin through being polished by the hands of thousands of tourists who line up to put a coin in the boar's mouth in the hope to see it wash into the grate below - which is considered particularly good luck!
The original 'Il Porcellino' is now safely in a museum and the market place bronze is a modern 20th century copy.